The kitchen was quiet except for the soft sizzle of oil.
Erika stood in front of the stove, a wooden spatula in one hand and her phone in the other. Her eyes moved between the pan and the screen, following the video step by step.
On the screen, a cheerful voice continued,
"Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic—"
Erika paused slightly.
"…Yeah, maybe just onion is enough."
She skipped the garlic without another thought, letting the onions sauté until they turned a gentle golden brown.
"Add the liver strips to the pan. Sauté for about two to three minutes per side—"
Erika followed exactly as instructed, watching closely, making sure not to overcook it.
"Now toss in the fresh spinach. Stir constantly for one to two minutes. Finish with a splash of vinegar or soy sauce. Give it one final toss, then taste for salt—"
Erika did just that, finishing the dish with careful precision.
She looked down at it for a moment.
"…It's simple, alright. But does it taste good?"
Almost unconsciously, she picked up a small piece and put it in her mouth—
"Ah—!"
She flinched as the heat burned her tongue, letting out a small yelp. A second later, the pain faded as her healing factor quietly did its job.
"…I think it's okay."
A brief pause.
"Well… it doesn't really matter."
Her gaze softened slightly.
"This is for his health, not the taste."
Yesterday, Akira had used a large amount of his blood for the ritual. And this morning… she had taken some as well.
So this was her way of making up for it.
The internet had said liver and spinach were good for increasing blood.
So she made it.
Carefully, she packed the dish into a bento box and headed toward Akira's room.
The last place she saw him was there. He was probably still sleeping.
She muttered to herself,
"I haven't seen him since morning… is he still sleeping? Is he still tired?"
Thinking about it, she sped up, reached his room, and opened the door.
But no one was inside.
The bed was empty.
"…Huh?"
Erika frowned slightly.
"Isn't he supposed to be resting…?"
A brief pause.
"…Is he with Selena?"
The thought crossed her mind, and she didn't hesitate.
Just like Selena taught her recently, she focused for a moment and she teleported to the throne room.
But when she arrived—
It was empty.
Even Selena, who was almost always there, was nowhere to be seen.
Erika frowned a little deeper and reached out telepathically.
"Selena, where are you?"
The response came almost instantly.
"Erika-chan, I'm in the castle training arena."
Erika blinked.
Training… again?
A slight unease settled in.
"Is she training with Akira? But… how can he train after losing that much blood?"
Thinking about it she immediately said.
"…I'll be there."
In the next moment, she disappeared again and reappeared in the training arena.
But instead of seeing Akira and Selena—
There were only three birds.
Two black crows.
Raven and Rose.
And—
A massive snow-white eagle, its purple eyes gleaming sharply.
Far too large to be normal.
Raven tilted his head.
"Caw. Erika is here."
Rose followed politely.
"Good afternoon."
Erika looked between them, then at the massive white bird.
"Raven… Rose… what are you doing here? And this is—…Selena?"
The snow-white eagle shimmered—
And in the next moment, it transformed back into Selena.
She stretched slightly.
"Yes, it's me, Erika-chan. What is it?"
Erika hesitated for a moment.
"I was looking for Akira… I brought him lunch. Do you know where he is?"
Selena's expression immediately turned exaggeratedly offended.
"Oh? Lunch for him only? What about me?"
Erika froze slightly.
"Ah—sorry, I forgot… I'll make something for you next time."
Selena waved her hand casually.
"Relax, I'm joking. My brother is in the lab. You can find him there."
"I see…"
Erika nodded, then glanced back at Selena and the crows.
"…What are you guys doing?"
"Training," Selena replied simply.
Erika blinked.
"Training?"
Selena explained.
"They just became magical creatures, right? They don't understand their abilities yet. So I'm teaching them."
She gestured lightly.
"Easier if I turn into a bird too."
"Caw. Big sis is strong."
Raven puffed up proudly.
Rose nodded quietly in agreement.
Erika looked at Selena again.
"I see… are you an eagle?"
Selena nodded slightly.
"Technically, a Haast's eagle."
Erika tilted her head. "Haast's eagle?"
"Yeah. They were the largest eagles ever discovered. Went extinct around… six hundred years ago."
She flicked a strand of hair.
"I just adjusted the colors. White feathers, purple eyes—fits me better."
Erika asked,
"Why that eagle?"
Selena shrugged.
"Well, I originally wanted to transform into a peacock."
She sighed.
"But unfortunately, female peacocks don't have those beautiful feathers. So I went for the second-best thing."
Erika blinked.
"Second-best thing?"
Selena nodded.
"Yeah. I copied my brother and went for an extinct type. And this one is great, so I chose it."
Erika asked,
"…Why a bird?"
Selena smiled slightly.
"Well, my brother covers the land and I cover the sky… it's a perfect combo."
Then she tilted her head slightly.
"How about you? Why don't you try transforming too?"
Erika thought for a moment.
"I could probably turn into a bat… but I've never tried it."
Selena made a face.
"A bat is boring. How about transforming into a sea creature so we can complete the set?"
Erika frowned.
"Like what?"
Selena tapped her chin.
"A vampire… under the sea…"
"…Hmm."
Then her eyes lit up.
"How about a lamprey?"
Erika immediately reacted.
"What? You want me to turn into that?"
Selena shrugged.
"Well, I can't think of a vampire-like sea creature other than that. Maybe I'll look it up later."
Erika sighed.
"…I don't care."
She turned away.
"I need to find Akira."
Selena waved lazily.
"Sure, sure. Go ahead."
"Bye."
"Caw. Bye."
"Goodbye."
Erika teleported away.
—
Inside the lab—
Akira stood in front of a table.
Holding something.
And laughing.
"HAHAHAHAHA, My new creation is complete."
he spread his hands and loudly said.
"Soon… I will take over the world's food market."
"Hahahahahaha—"
Erika stood there, looking at him.
She had no idea what to say.
She then took a deep breath and asked, "What are you doing?"
Akira turned to look at her, raised his hand, which contained a small jar of powder and said, "Oh, Erika. I just figured out how to process silphium."
"Silphium?" Erika frowned. "Didn't you say it went extinct ages ago?"
Akira nodded. "Yeah, but I bought the seeds from the store. Only 15 points, and then I revived them in the controlled growth chamber."
Akira sighed.
"Though figuring out how to process it was the hard part. The ancient philosophers weren't exactly clear about that."
He shrugged slightly.
"So it took me a while… but now I did it."
Erika looked a bit curious.
"Really… so… what does it taste like?"
Akira immediately brought the jar closer to her.
"Here. You can smell it."
Erika leaned in slightly and took a deep breath.
And then immediately pulled back, coughing a bit.
"Cough, cough— What is that? It smells bad!"
Akira frowned slightly.
"Really? 'Heavy' would be a more accurate description. It doesn't actually smell that bad."
Erika shook her head.
"No, it smells bad. How do people even eat this?"
Akira sighed.
"You should have smelled surströmming. This isn't even as strong as asafoetida."
He waved it off.
"Once it's cooked, the heavy smell disappears. It actually smells and tastes good."
Erika crossed her arms.
"I don't believe it."
Akira shrugged.
"It's true, just so you know…"
Then he noticed the bento box in her hands.
"Oh… What's that?"
Erika blinked, then remembered.
"Oh—right. I made lunch for you."
She held it out.
Akira took it.
"Really?"
He opened the box and looked inside.
"Oh… spinach with liver?"
Erika nodded.
"You lost too much blood yesterday, after all… so I made it for you."
Then she said.
"Eat it while it's hot and tell me how is it?"
Akira took a bite with his spoon.
"Hmm… not bad…"
He paused.
"…But something is missing."
Then he looked at her.
"Oh, you skipped garlic, right?"
Erika hesitated.
"…Yeah. Is it bad?"
Akira shook his head.
"No, it's actually good. Just feels like something's missing."
Then he suddenly got an idea.
Without saying anything, he took out the silphium powder—
And sprinkled some into the food.
Erika frowned.
"What are you doing?"
Akira smirked.
"You'll see."
Then he used his magic to heat it slightly, like a blowtorch.
Within seconds—
The heavy smell disappeared.
Replaced by a surprisingly pleasant aroma.
Erika blinked.
"…It really changed."
She took a deep breath.
"…And it actually smells good?"
Akira smirked slightly.
"I told you."
Then he took another bite.
Erika watched him closely.
"How is it?"
Akira paused, thinking.
"It's actually great."
As if in deep thought he said.
"It's like… garlicky… or maybe fruity?… Hmm. Yeah, it's good."
He glanced at her.
"You know, now you can probably taste something similar to garlic without any issues."
Erika blinked.
"…Really?"
Akira nodded.
"Yep, I am sure you can. "
Then he paused.
"But wait a bit. I need to check if there are any changes to my body."
Erika frowned.
"…Why? Is it dangerous?"
Akira shook his head.
"No, it's just that…"
He hesitated a bit and said.
"Apparently, silphium was used as an aphrodisiac in ancient times. So I'm checking if that effect kicks in."
Erika froze.
"…What?"
Akira stood there for a moment.
"…Hmm."
He looked down and said.
"I don't feel anything."
He frowned slightly.
"…Did the ancient philosophers lie to me again?"
He thought for a second.
"Maybe it's because of my high metabolism or poison resistance…"
Then he held the food toward her.
"Here. Why don't you try it?"
Erika immediately leaned back.
"No. I'm not eating that."
Akira moved it closer.
"Don't worry. It's effects are probably exaggerated."
Erika leaned back even more.
"I'm not. Definitely not."
"Just to confirm—"
"No."
"…For science."
"NOT IN A MILLION YEARS."
Just as they were going back and forth—
Akira's phone rang.
Akira glanced at his phone.
"Oh… it's old man Senzaemon."
Erika, having just barely calmed down, looked over.
"…That old man?"
Akira answered the call.
"Hey, ojiisan. It's been a while."
From the phone, Nakiri Senzaemon's voice came through.
"Oh? So you still remember me. I was starting to think you forgot after coming back to Japan."
Akira sighed lightly.
"Sorry about that. I've been busy."
As the conversation continued—
Erika stopped paying attention.
Her thoughts drifted.
"That silphium…"
She glanced at the dish again.
"It really did smell better after cooking…"
She sighed.
"… And is it really an aphrodisiac…?"
Her face turned slightly red.
"That idiot, how did he eat that so casually…?What if it actually worked…? What would I even do then…?"
She quickly shook her head.
"No—no… that's not the point…"
In the background—
Akira's voice continued.
"Yeah… I understand."
A pause.
"…You want me to come there?"
Erika blinked.
"But did it taste that good…? …Should I have tried it…?"
She hesitated.
Then shook her head again.
"No. Definitely not… At least not until he confirms it's safe."
Then—
"…Wait."
Akira's voice cut through everything.
"…What did you just say?"
Silence.
Erika looked up.
Akira's expression had completely changed.
As if he had just heard something unbelievable.
"I have a what now?"